*BIKE/PED ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING*The Bike/Ped Advisory Committee for FAST Planning will be meeting next Thursday. Main Agenda Items include: * Bike Lane Signing and Striping Pilot Project * New Airport Path Connection Signage * House Bill No. 8 – An Act Relating to Electric-Assisted Bicycles
notice.alaska.gov/209974
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*ARE E-BIKES A GOOD DEVELOPMENT?*E-bikes are becoming more popular. What’s your take? Are they a good development for cycling? For public health? For fighting climate change?
Shared from League of American Bicyclists
Our two cents: Incentives for more Americans to go #carfree, like Denver’s #ebike rebate program, which makes purchasing #ebikes more affordable, give us a better shot than #electricvehicles at replacing a huge share of gas-powered trips ⬇️
www.yahoo.com/news/are-e-bikes-the-unsung-secret-to-curbing-climate-change-235325455.html
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*CHALLENGE OF MAINTAINING ALASKA ROADS DURING CLIMATE CHANGE*One of the challenges of climate change in Alaska will be taking care of the roads. That means money and efforts to fix and/or maintain things used heavily by cyclists, such as shoulders and separated paths, will be especially strained. Things are going to get worse, but we can mitigate those effects by acting now.
There are several groups you can work with:
Fairbanks Climate Action Coalition fairbanksclimateaction.org/
Citizen’s Climate Lobby citizensclimatelobby.org/
Climate Ride www.climateride.org/
Permafrost thaw expected to impose heavy costs across Arctic on roads, airport runways alaskabeacon.com/2023/02/16/arctic-permafrost-thaw-expected-to-impose-heavy-costs-on-roads-airport-runways/
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*ASAH SENDS CALL OUT FOR TOWN HALL MEETING*Advocates for Safe Alaska Highways sent a call out for people to attend a town hall meeting on Saturday. Any cyclists who are concerned about the Kinross ore hauling proposal should consider attending. Read the call out below:
Representative Maxine Dibert (District 31), Representative Will Stapp (District 32) and Senator Scott Kawasaki (District P) will be back in Fairbanks and hosting a Townhall next Saturday (Feb 18) at the Fairbanks Visitor Center (goo.gl/maps/AGRExnwLnru1bgLr8) from 1-3 pm.
This will be an excellent opportunity for us to begin the discussion with our Interior Delegation about the Kinross ore haul trucking from Tetlin to Ft. Knox. We are hoping for another strong showing of Interior Alaskans who believe that the cost to the state and the risk to the public from this trucking proposal is unacceptable.
ASAH has put together a 2-page list of concerns that we will be providing to the legislators. You can read the list here (tinyurl.com/2sne7ffv) and print off a copy for reference. One solution ASAH endorses is building a processing mill closer to the mine site.
Please plan to attend. Bring your questions to ask. We hope to see you there!
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*BIKE TRAVEL TIP*This helpful post was on the Alaska Mountain Bike FB group:
So Paul Rotkis and I just got back from riding bikes around in Arizona last week and I thought I would share something that really made our trip a whole lot easier, renting a mini-cargo van from Enterprise Commercial.
The one we got was a Nissan NV200, but Ford makes a Transit Connect that’s basically the same thing, and there’s probably others. It’s like a van shaped car. Only 2 front seats, but the whole rear is wide open and can fit EVERYTHING you would ever bring on a trip like this. We were easily able to toss 2 large bikes in, all our bags, and could have carried even more. With a little effort you could probably carry 3~4 bikes but those friends would need their own car, but they could get something small because they wouldn’t need to haul bikes. Also has sliding doors on both sides making packing and access super easy.
One of the best parts was it was pretty cheap compared to other options. $360/week including 700 miles vs a real van I priced that was $250/DAY and the Turo options of getting a small truck which ranged from $75~$150/day and your bikes would be out in the elements/easy to steal. There was even plenty of room to carry both bikes, the empty bike travel bags, and all our other luggage when we moved from Phoenix up to Sedona, which was great.
Just wanted to throw that out since it worked really well for us and could be a big help for others as well.
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*MOUNTAIN BIKE INSTRUCTOR COURSE POSSIBILITY*This was posted on the Alaska Mountain Bike FB page. Anyone interested from Fairbanks or elsewhere in Interior Alaska? Sounds like if there’s enough interested people, they would try to organize a course up here. If you’re interested email Eric Troyer (fbxtrails@gmail.com)
–Hey all! I’m working with PMBIA (Profession Mountain Bike Instructor Association) to plan their 2023 course schedule for Alaska. For the first time there’s a trainer based in AK, so we can run more courses through the season, and with fewer participants required for a course to take place. If you’re interested in getting certified as a MTB instructor this summer and would like some input into when the courses happen, please let me know so we can accommodate as many people as possible!–
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*BLACK GIRLS DO BIKE*It would be great to see a chapter in Fairbanks!
Shared from League of American Bicyclists
In 2013, Monica Garrison founded Black Girls Do Bike to offer a space for black women and girls to feel welcomed, supported, and encouraged to ride #bikes. 10 years later, BGDB is now pedal-powered by more than 100 chapters across the nation and continues to challenge the status quo of cycling being white male-dominated.
Read our 10 Year Anniversary interview with Monica, where we ask about the progress made over the past decade in building a more inclusive bike community and the work that still lies ahead ➡️
bikeleague.org/content/interview-black-girls-do-bike%E2%80%99s-founder-monica-garrison-10-years-bgdb
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*CR2R ROUTE LOOKING GOOD*We’ve been hearing that the Chena River to Ridge race route (at least the first loop) is in good shape. If you’re not doing the race, now is a good time to get out there. (And it would help pack the trail for the race!)
Shared from Chena River to Ridge Feb 12 TRAIL CONDITIONS UPDATE: Trail Boss Tommy was out there again today clearing brush from the first loop and packing in that new snow making it great for you all to ski, bike, or run! rivertoridge.org/
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*RESPONSE TO LETTER TO EDITOR*A January 31 Letter to the Editor in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner attacked a recent decision by the Fairbanks Borough Assembly and Fairbanks Borough Mayor Bryce Ward to defeat an ordinance regarding trail easements. Interior Trails Newsletter Editor Eric Troyer wrote an opinion piece responding to the letter and submitted it to the News-Miner. Unfortunately, it has not yet run. But you can read it by following the link below.
The Fairbanks Comprehensive Recreational Trails Plan is coming before the Borough Assembly for approval on February 23. It will need all the support it can get if it hopes to pass. Troyer will be issuing a call for advocacy soon. Watch here for the call or get on the Interior Trails Newsletter distribution list by emailing Troyer at: fbxtrails@gmail.com.
www.interioralaskatrails.org/2023/02/12/recently-defeated-trail-ordinance-not-an-instance-of-mob-rule/
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*EVERY CYCLE TRIP HELPS*Every car trip replaced by a bike trip helps!
“They also found that if everyone in the world cycled just one mile per day, we could cut 414 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.”
Shared from One Green Planet Though not as bad as animal agriculture, the transportation industry still makes up a huge part of the global emissions that are contributing to climate change. Two countries, Denmark and the Netherlands have been able to lower their emissions through a different mode of transportation: bikes.
www.onegreenplanet.org/environment/if-everyone-biked-as-much-as-the-dutch-we-could-cut-nearly-700-million-metric-tons-of-carbon-dioxide-every-year-new-study-finds/
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*USING YOUR CAR LESS*Trying to go car-free or just using your car less in Fairbanks can be a challenge, especially in winter, but this article has some good ideas. If you’re not up for trying it in winter, then consider planning ahead for summer.
www.vox.com/future-perfect/23578481/how-to-live-without-a-car
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*NO NEW BIKE FRIENDLY BUSINESSES IN ALASKA*This is unfortunate. And none of the BFBs in Alaska are in Fairbanks.
Shared from Walk/Bike Alaska
No new Bicycle Friendly Businesses in Alaska this time. We used to have about a dozen statewide, but we’re down to six active BRBs right now as organizations have let their designations lapse. We need to build this back up.
bikeleague.org/content/partnerships-pedal-cities-forward-leagues-latest-bicycle-friendly-business-awards
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*FCC RESOURCES*We’ve got lots of useful stuff on our website, including a bunch of information on our Resources page and under our Resources dropdown menu: –Bikeways Fairbanks cycling map –Info on Alaska cycling laws –Tanana Valley State Forest Roads –National and International Cycling Advocacy Groups –Winter Riding Tips –Maps Archive
See those and more under Resources at: www.fairbankscycleclub.org/
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*FCC FACEBOOK WEEKLY WRAP-UP* *(An anti-social media compendium for our non-Facebook members)*